McLeish sympathises with Davies

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish sympathises with Nottingham Forest boss Billy Davies - as they are both fighting the same fire of expectation.

The pair face off when Blues host the FA Cup third round replay tonight with the victor's prize a trip to Everton on January 23.

The teams are the form sides in the country with the home side unbeaten in their last 13 games in all competitions and Forest are yet to lose on the road this season, having not tasted defeat anywhere since mid-September.

Davies' team lie second in the Championship and, while the Blues boss is wary of their threat, McLeish also understands how his counterpart must temper expectations.

He said: "Their form speaks for itself. They are the form team in the Championship and Billy's probably surprised at the rate they are going. He's trying to calm the jets in terms of the expectation levels and I can understand that type of management as it's a similar situation here.

"I tipped Forest. They were my outside candidates for a promotion chase and Billy has done it again. He's done a remarkable job at Forest in such a short space of time.

"It takes time. Building a team isn't an overnight job and all a manager can ask for is people to be patient, the fans, the board and the people who have big expectation levels.

"He built great things at Derby and maybe thought getting into the Premier League was a bit too early for them, and he's said he doesn't really want to go up this season in order for Forest to get stronger within.

"I'm sure Billy would take promotion if they can get it. They are a very confident team, a little like the attitude I have with my team and I understand where he's coming from."

The Scot is battling against rising excitement levels at St Andrew's with a £40million war chest at his disposal and a run which has seen them rise to eighth in the Premier League.

McLeish has the backing of the Blues faithful, who are realistic on their chances.

He said: "You have to manage expectations but a lot of fans are pretty mature. There's nothing wrong with ambition. I'd love to win the league, but let's keep our feet on the ground. We set out to stay in the Premier League at the start of the season and a rung higher than 17th would be a fantastic achievement.

"We've punched above our weight and there's a lot of teams who are above us who we've got no chance of catching, and there's a few behind us who will probably feel they've underachieved."

McLeish is likely to rotate his squad following their efforts in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Saturday – a result which set a new club record of 12 unbeaten in the top flight.

But the manager insists they will be up for the fight against Forest who have doubts over striker Robert Earnshaw, after he injured a hamstring in the warm-up to Friday's 3-1 win at Albion.

He said: "We owe it to our fans to try and get through this tie. The draw has not been very kind to Forest and ourselves, but sometimes you have to go through ties like this to achieve in the cup."